Supermarkets ditch 363 tonnes of sugar from their products

The three largest supermarket chains operating in Belgium discarded close to 363 tonnes of sugar from their food brands, Het Laatste Nieuws reported on Friday.

In agreement with the Public Health Department, the food and distribution sector had set itself the target of reducing calories present in their foods by 5% compared to 2012. An evaluation report currently under preparation is to be presented in the Spring.

In the meantime, the three big distributors, Colruyt, Delhaize and Carrefour, have already released some of the results they achieved last year. Together they modified the composition of 3,300 products without changing their taste. In addition to the sugar eliminated from their brands, they reduced their fat content by 170 tonnes, and reduced the salt they contained by 82 tonnes.

At least 166 Walloon communes were affected by an exceptional drought between 1 May and 1 August, according to data from the Royal Meteorological Institute (IRM), Wallonia’s Minister of Agriculture, René Collin, disclosed on Monday.